1. Field of the Description
The present description relates, in general, to docking a boat in a safe and controlled manner, and, more particularly, to dampers and damper systems/assemblies for use on a boat dock to prevent or manage the “collision” with the dock. In the following description, the term “boat” is intended to include nearly any type of watercraft including boats, vessels, rafts, and the like that may carry cargo and/or passengers (e.g., passenger watercraft used in water-based rides or attractions at amusement or theme parks). The term “dock” is intended to include nearly any structure used to receive a boat such as for passenger and/or cargo embarking and disembarking (passenger and/or cargo loading and unloading).
2. Relevant Background
Passenger boats and other boats are used in many settings where it is desirable to land the boat at or against a dock in a safe and controlled manner. For example, amusement and theme parks have many water-based rides (or attractions) where passengers are loaded onto the boat from a dock at the start of the ride and unloaded from the boat at the end of the ride. It is important for the boat to land at the dock in a manner that is not abrupt or impacting in order to make the end of the ride enjoyable and safe. In some cases, the passengers may not be restrained in their seats in the boat and may even be standing or walking around when the boat is approaching the dock. It is undesirable for the boat to strike the dock with sufficient force that may cause the passengers to be jerked about as they may lose their balance and possibly be injured.
Currently, as a boat approaches a dock, the boat operator must steer or maneuver the boat under its own power to safely land against or near the dock. For example, the operator may have to vary the boat's speed in a very specific manner while concurrently orienting the boat in order to land at the dock with minimal to no contact. Most water transportation relies on human operator skill, which varies significantly between operators. This results in docking variation from both operator-to-operator and docking-to-docking from the same operator. Further, if an inability to decelerate the boat should arise (e.g., due to operator failure, mechanical failure, wind gusts, and so on), there is a risk that the boat may collide with the dock with too high of a force.
Hence, there remains a need for devices or systems for allowing boats to approach and land at docks in a more controlled manner. Preferably, the devices and systems would be designed such that a boat could be landed or “docked” with predictable forces (low impact collisions, for example) that are below some predefined maximum impact force regardless of the operator's skills and the boat's ability to slow down.